TRAINING OF “ POINTEURS " FOR ARTILLERY. 
675 
(e) Without moving the guns, the original elevations and deflec¬ 
tions are given, and each pointeur" in succession has the 
disc moved to suit the line of sight he has thus obtained. 
The distance between the present position of the disc and 
its original position shows the accumulated error of four 
sights and of two readings of the tangent scale. 
6. “ Pointeurs " are not finally selected till after really firing. 
Each man fires five shots with plugged shell—the first one is a trial 
shot and does not count. Ricochets do not count. 
Selected <( pointeurs " from each battery compete with other batteries 
for prizes. The first three men receive a distinguishing badge. 
There is no mention made of these men having to undergo any pre¬ 
liminary paper examination. 
7. Comments. 
The French do not assume that because a man happens to be a non¬ 
commissioned officer he must be the best shot. 
Every man's laying powers are tested, and those who show them¬ 
selves most capable are carefully selected to lay. 
All through the instruction, great stress is laid on the man doing 
exactly as he is ordered ; he is not allowed to make any corrections for 
himself. 
The means of correcting the elevation, by giving (so many) turns to 
the hand-wheel of the elevating gear, is specially useful when firing at 
a running target, when time is often of great importance. 
A considerable portion of the instruction is given to laying by an 
auxiliary mark. This plan involves no calculation, and, where the 
object is ill-defined, a great saving of time is effected in the long run, 
and cover can often be obtained. 
Corrections for direction and distance are given independently of the 
distance of the auxiliary mark. They depend on the range of the ob¬ 
ject ; of course, the correction for elevation must not be given directly 
from a scale of yards, unless the tangent scale happens to be nearly at 
the proper height for the true range. 
The deflection leaves of our service sights (with a few exceptions) 
are not long enough to make the teaching of this method of much 
practical use, but French's sights are admirably adapted for the 
purpose. 
The means of employing the target with the moveable disc, as 
described in para. 5, is objectionable, as errors might neutralize each 
other. If this method is to be used, the instructor should look over 
the sights after each operation, and disqualify any man who commits 
gross errors. 
The plan described is para. 2 is not liable to this objection; but, I 
think, if a greater number of dots were used, and a probable rectangle 
for these dots worked out for each man^ a more reliable basis for 
judging would be obtained. 
